Peter Robins said:
the existing albergues the Xunta has put up are hardly objects of great beauty. Are these containers really that much worse than, for example, what they did to Monte Gozo?
http://www.santiago-compostela.net/pix/1293.jpg
http://www.santiago-compostela.net/pix/1294.jpg
Oh Peter, to me this is like saying, "Well darn, my front tooth has a rotten spot on it.... I guess I may as well just let the rest of my teeth go black!"
I am hoping that Spain will maintain a sense of pride, culture, and beauty.
I would rather see them spend money on preserving their historic, old buildings than building these horrible storage bins for people to sleep in. I wish the Spanish government would step in and proclaim this area a historic treasure, realizing that THIS is why people travel here... not to attend a race of 850 km, but to SEE the history, the beauty.
My great great grandfather built houses from lava rock in Flores, Azores. He whitewashed them with his own special recipe of whitewash. They are simple and beautiful. They dotted the island. My family still owns four of them. Ten years ago, my Tio Alfredo, my great grandfather's 90 year old brother, decided to "modernize" two of these beautiful homes. He painted them a weird pink color with green trim and sanded the beautiful old woodwork until it was smooth, then painted it. I almost fainted when I saw them... what a gaudy mess. They looked like psychotic flamingos in a landscape that had been quitely beautiful, historic, and lovely just one year before. Now... they're just another ugly house on the landscape.
I pray this doesn't happen in Spain. I pray the Spanish people realize the jewels they have which only need polishing to shine instead of falling for the worthless plastic trinkets some money-hungry visitors bring as trade.